Algeria’s People’s National Assembly of Algeria has adopted a landmark law criminalizing the period of French colonial rule in Algeria from 1830 to 1962, officially classifying it as a “state crime” and a “genocide”.
According to the legislation, the law aims to provide a legal framework enabling Algeria to demand official recognition and a formal apology from France.
The text states that the French military campaign launched on 14 June 1830 constituted a “blatant act of aggression” and a “serious violation of international law”. It asserts that the Algerian people endured “one of the most brutal forms of colonization in human history”, resulting in “millions of victims” through massacres, engineered famine and systematic repression.
The law also introduces legal accountability mechanisms and criminalizes any attempt to glorify or promote the colonial period.
The move comes amid strained relations between Algiers and Paris, where historical memory remains a major source of diplomatic tension.
Algeria gained independence from France after an eight-year war of liberation. A ceasefire agreement was signed on 19 March 1962, with independence officially declared on 5 July of the same year.
